Staten Island Advance/Irving SilversteinSteven VillaMarin of auto dealership has legislators' ear during breakfast at the Old Bermuda Inn.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- It’s tough enough keeping a small business afloat in this soft economy.

But add to that ever-shifting government regulations, with their fines and fees, the skyrocketing cost of employee health care and such borough-specific zingers as bridge tolls, and it’s no surprise local business owners gave an earful to borough lawmakers yesterday at the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce’s fourth annual legislative breakfast.

“It’s very difficult to be in business in this environment,” said Bob Cutrona, owner of Project-One Services, addressing the city, state and federal legislators and their representatives and the crowd of roughly 150 Chamber members at the Old Bermuda Inn, Rossville.

After sharing his tale of working harder than ever for a shrinking profit margin, he asked how many in the audience were actually doing better economically than in 2005.

Only three hands went up.

The longtime role of small businesses as jobs creators is undermined by the high cost of health care, said speaker Dave Rampulla, owner of Ferry Ads, describing how it is more affordable simply to bring on contractors. “I can’t keep raising my rates to pay for health insurance, and keep my customers,” he said. “It’s an unsustainable business model.”

Barbara Neijidi, owner of Di Sara restaurant in New Dorp Beach, said her business is jeopardized by what she characterized as punitive inspections by the city Health Department. Steve VillaMarin of VillaMarin Buick GMC spoke about the painful bridge tolls, and how potential future hikes also affect business: “It puts me at a competitive disadvantage to make bids against the other boroughs and New Jersey.”

Undermining an already weak housing market, a new regulation now allows the city Parks Department to charge as much as $30,000 for removing trees, said Bob Kelly of Master Real Estate. Kevin Lenning of SCARAN appealed to lawmakers to do something about the city Department of Buildings, which has been known to levy a $1,000 fine for violations unless paperwork is hand-delivered to Manhattan.

City agencies have made some improvements to expedite business, said Borough President James P. Molinaro, describing video conferencing technology that should speed the city’s sluggish permitting process.

“You want results, usher in a new mayoral administration,” quipped City Councilman James Oddo (R-Mid-Island/Brooklyn), urging Chamber members to hold mayoral candidates’ feet to the fire in 2013. “I like Mayor Bloomberg, but when he comes here he is treated like a rock star and not challenged on the issues. You have to challenge these folks.”

State Sen. Diane Savino (D-Brooklyn/North Shore) and Assemblyman Lou Tobacco (R-South Shore) had very different takes on the ways increasing the minimum wage would affect the business community. Sen. Savino supported the move afoot in Albany, saying “raising the floor will raise the ceiling,” while Tobacco vowed to campaign against it.

The Chamber does not have a position on minimum wage; a survey is still out to its members on the question, said its president, Linda Baran.

“We have a good group of elected officials on Staten Island who I feel do support us,” she said, noting ongoing dialogue with lawmakers can only improve prospects for local business.